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This is the fifth post in my ‘Peace Poems’ series; be sure to click through to the Category to see the rest of the posts.

Forget Not Yet – Thomas Wyatt

Forget not yet the tried intent

Of such a truth as I have meant;

My great travail so gladly spent,

Forget not yet.

Forget not yet when first began

The weary life ye know, since whan

The suit, the service, none tell can;

Forget not yet.

Forget not yet the great assays,

The cruel wrong, the scornful ways;

The painful patience in denays,

Forget not yet.

Forget not yet, forget not this,

How long ago hath been and is

The mind that never meant amiss;

Forget not yet.

Forget not then thine own approved,

The which so long hath thee so loved,

Whose steadfast faith yet never moved;

Forget not this.

Today’s charity is called Girls not Brides. Maybe this one’s self explanatory – but this is an international partnership devoted to ending child marriage, so that girls can reach their full potential. Over 700 million women alive today were married as children. That’s a lot of people.

And this isn’t only about the emotional maturity of the girls; if they are forced into marriage too early, their bodies aren’t ready to cope with the stress of pregnancy, and they are far more likely to suffer complications.

So here’s where organisations like Girls not Brides come in. These people are empowering girls, giving them the knowledge and the skills to exercise their rights, and to forge their own place in their communities. They educate and support young people so that this vicious pattern of premature marriages can end.

And if you think this is something you could get behind, this page will give you more information on how you can join in with campaigning and fundraising.

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day! I’ll see you tomorrow for the next Peace Poems instalment.

So we’ve all seen (or at least heard of) the Disney adaptations – animated, a Broadway musical, and now a live action starring Emma Watson – of this classic fairy tale, and it’s one of my favourite stories of all time. What I wanted to do today, though, was list a couple of other interpretations of the story that may have slipped your notice! In no particular order:

Beastly (2011) Shamefully, I haven’t read the book, so I’ll just say a little about the film. This is the modern-day Young Adult movie version of the story, starring Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen and Neil Patrick Harris. Pretty heavy-handed with its morality, and uncomfortably obvious in soundtrack choices, it is at least a creative twist on the classic story.

A Court of Thrones and Roses – Sarah J Maas I guess I would call this a New Adult Fantasy interpretation; although it sticks reasonably closely to the fairy tale, it’s set in a world with fairies, and I think it works hard to step outside expectations.

The Wrath and the Dawn – Renee Ahdieh Potentially my favourite on this list (find my review here), this is a Young Adult novel set in a sort of Fantasy, Pre-Islamic Middle Eastern world that puts a whole new twist on the story, and that embellishes the core story elements into a whole new fairy tale.

The Bloody Chamber – Angela Carter This is a collection of short fairy tale re-tellings, two of which are direct re-tellings of Beauty and the Beast. This book is pretty graphic, and uses fairy tale tropes to discuss feminist and gender issues. Carter certainly doesn’t pull any punches.

The Phantom of the Opera – Gaston Leroux Last but not least, we have The Phantom of the Opera! (I reviewed this here) I watched the musical multiple times before realising the connection with the story, and I think that’s what I like about this gothic Parisian re-telling: it is very liberal with its interpretation.

Those are all of my top picks, but I know there are loads more books based around Beauty and the Beast! Are there any you’d recommend?

Having (pretty much) finished my literature degree, I decided it was also time to finish my blogging break. There’s a whole world of books still to read! And let’s face it, no one has time for sub-par stories, so here are my top five creative covers to books I probably haven’t read. They look great, though.

Jules Verne – Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Brazilian edition, designed by Carlo Giovani)

It’s 3D and beautiful and 3D. And we all thought Jules Verne couldn’t get any better.

2. Ray Bradbury – Farenheit 451 (Design by Elisabeth Perez)

It’s a literal matchbook. This design is smart and cool and a little terrifying. (Spoilers just so we’re all on the same page – it’s a Dystopian about burning books)

3. Lauren Beukes – Zoo City (Designed by Joey Hi-Fi)

How amazing is this typography, though? This blows my mind.

4. Mary Shelley – Frankenstein (Designed by Pol Alert)

Why yes, that is real meat. This one is so grim that I nearly didn’t include it…but someone spent all that time sewing slabs of raw meat together, and I think we have to honour that.

5. On Such a Full Sea – Chang-Rae Lee (Designed by Yentus and Markerbot Studios)

I just can’t get over the 3D stuff. It’s just a slip, so you can take it off and still have a wonderful reading experience, but I guess you’d have to store it by itself rather than on a shelf? It looks cool, but maybe not practical at all?

So there were my top five creative book covers – what books would have made it onto your list? And how are we feeling about 3D covers?